Scoring My First Translation Job and Five Tips for Finding More Clients

But I like to give it to you straight so that you know what you’re facing when you start out.

Translation clients often don’t fall out of the sky.

It’s a matter of hard work and opportunity that leads to the “luck” a lot of people talk about when they become successful.

If you put in the work, that first job will eventually come.

The next job will then come.

Then the next.

And pretty soon, you’ll be able to make a living as a freelance translator.

Your confidence will build.

And once you know that people need your services, things will snowball.

It’s that first job, though, that’s the hardest one.

And one of the most important things to remember is this.

You’ll never know where that first translation job will come from.

You’ve got to keep your options open.

You’ve got to look for opportunities.

You need people to know what you do and the services you provide that can help them.

And that’s how I got my first translation job.

I was in college when I it happened, but it wasn’t like I thought it would be.

I was enrolled in a Spanish Translation bachelor’s degree program at school.

Concurrently I worked part-time at a local health clinic.

At the clinic, the majority of the patients were Spanish-speakers and so my job included translating brochures and information packets for patients.

It was fun, and a great introduction to translating for real clients.

I’d talk to my wife about it and she understood that it was something I enjoyed.

Well, one day, my wife (ever my advocate) was talking to one of her coworkers, who mentioned that her parents owned a business and were looking for a translator.

They were originally going to ask a relative to do it, (even though he had no training), but after my wife told her the story, she wanted to know if I’d be interested in doing the job.

I was, of course, and got my first paying translation job.

So what can this story teach you as a new translator?

1. Tell People You’re a Translator
It should go without saying because it’s such a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised by how many would-be freelance translators fail to follow this simple rule.

Surprise! If people don’t know you’re a translator, you won’t translate.

And I don’t mean that you merely post your intention of becoming a freelance translator on your Twitter account.

You need to tell everyone you know that you’re a freelance translator.

Translators get a lot of their work by word-of-mouth marketing, and if nobody knows you’re a translator looking for work, you won’t get any.

When it comes down to it, the more people that know you’re a translator, the more work you’ll get.

2. Don’t Qualify Your Translation Skills
When you tell people that you are a freelance translator, don’t qualify that statement by adding that you’re just starting out, or you are doing this on the side, or you’re trying to get into the translation business, etc.

That’s stupid.

And a sure way to not get any jobs.

If you’re committed to being a freelance translator, then don’t be ashamed to tell everyone.

Don’t ever play down your skills, or experience, or time in the profession.

That hesitation to acknowledge that you are a professional translator will come across to the people you talk to, and nobody wants to hire someone who isn’t confident about what they do.

This was the first translation job I got, and even though I was still in college and working on my Spanish translation degree, I approached it like I’d been translating my whole life.

And for all the client knew, I had been.

Of course, you definitely don’t want to misrepresent your skills and abilities, because that’s a surefire way to never work for that client again if you can’t deliver what you promise; however, if you’re a competent translator who’s entering the business for the first time, don’t feel like you have to acknowledge the fact that you’re new to the game.

You’re a translator.

Believe in yourself and your potential clients will have no choice but to believe in you as well.

3. Be Prepared
Ah, the Boy Scout motto.

I wasn’t just some bum off the street with no translation skills before I got that first translation job.

I was enrolled in a Spanish Translation program at school where I was actively engaged in translation work on a daily basis.

In addition, I was translating medical brochures, pamphlets, and other items at my job at the health clinic (as well as correcting all the other translations done by a native Spanish-speaker).

In essence, I was already translating before I ever got that first job.

Don’t wait until you get that first translation job before you ever start translating.